by Tina Folsom
Triton slid his arms underneath his friend’s limp body and lifted him off the floor. As he carried him to his bed, he felt him stir. By the time he carefully laid him on top of the covers, Dionysus forced one eye open. The other one remained shut, too swollen and blood-soaked to allow any movement.
“Thank the Gods, it’s you,” he pressed out, his voice hoarse and feeble.
“Don’t talk,” Triton ordered. He walked into the bathroom and took a towel, soaking it in lukewarm water, before he returned to Dionysus.
As he sat down on the edge of the bed and started cleaning off the encrusted blood from his friend’s face, he perused the rest of his beaten body. His clothes were torn in places, bloodstained in others. His fists were as bloodied as his face, confirming that he’d fought with somebody and landed some vicious blows.
Triton cursed under his breath. Why did Dionysus always have to get into bar fights? What was the allure? Did he really have to prove that he was a superior fighter? Triton guessed that most likely somebody had inadvertently insulted him, and the sensitive god of wine needed to defend his honor. Of course, he’d never admit to anybody that a wrong word could hurt him as easily as a well-placed fist. Too proud for his own good.
By the time Triton had wrung out the bloody towel a third time, Dionysus’ wounds were clean. They’d already started closing and mending, but it would take hours until he was as good as new.
Dionysus blinked one eye open. “I didn’t see them coming.”
“You’re trying to tell me you didn’t start another bar fight?” Triton raised one doubting eyebrow.
“I swear by the goddess Artemis, I was attacked.” Dionysus tried to raise himself to a sitting position and winced. His hand went to his ribs, which appeared to be bruised. “I should call Aesculapius to heal me. This hurts.”
Triton waved him off. A little bit of pain would do him good. There was no need to call the god of healers to fix a few bruises. “There’s no time. If you hadn’t gotten drunk and let yourself be beaten up, that healthcare worker wouldn’t have gotten away from you.”
“Ah, shit,” Dionysus hissed. He raised his head and looked straight at Triton, regret evident in his regard. “What happened?”
“That’s what I’m asking you,” Triton retorted and stood. “He showed up at the house this morning and blew my cover.”
“Listen, Triton, you have to believe me. This was no bar fight. Three guys went for me, they came out of nowhere. I’d never seen them before. This wasn’t a regular fight. They knew my weak spots. They knew.” The sincerity in Dionysus’ voice and eyes gave Triton pause. Had somebody targeted him because he was hiding the healthcare worker?
“Are you sure?”
Dionysus nodded, and Triton noticed how the movement seemed to hurt his head. “Somebody told them how to take me out. Only another god would have known.”
Triton nodded. Each god had at least one weak spot. If targeted, it was fairly easy for a mortal to take out a strong god like Dionysus. The mortal only needed to know where the spot was hidden. And only another god would know where those weak points were.
“Did you sense one of the gods nearby?” If another god had been in the vicinity, Dionysus would have picked it up. Like recognizing like. Unfortunately, Triton couldn’t sense any of his friend’s aura the way he would have been able to if he’d had his powers.
“No. Whoever directed those thugs stayed far enough away while I was still conscious, so I couldn’t sense him. Even though, I have an idea or two who might be behind this—especially if the person was trying to get at you, rather than just have his fun by beating me up.”
And there’d be any number of gods who’d love to beat Dionysus up. But his friend was right, this had to do with Triton and his quest.
“I shouldn’t have gotten you involved,” Triton said, ready to apologize to his friend. It was an entirely new feeling. He’d never in his life apologized for anything.
“Too late. Now it’s personal. Nobody sends a bunch of hoodlums after me and gets away with it. Trust me, I’ll get whoever is behind this.”
Triton nodded. He had his own suspicion about who wasn’t keen on him meeting Zeus’ challenge.
“Orion,” he and Dionysus uttered the culprit’s name on the same breath.
“Can’t choose family,” Triton confirmed.
“But you can choose your friends.”
Triton patted Dionysus on the shoulder, making him cringe in pain. “Sorry.”
“So tell me what’s going on. How is your seduction of that blind woman going?”
“Seduction?” Triton grunted, not sure who was seducing whom. He was totally smitten with Sophia, and the thought that she hated him right now made his chest constrict painfully. “She’s got me in the palm of her hand. And right now, she thinks I’m a psychopath.”
Dionysus laughed. “Well, if that’s all, I’m sure we can fix that.”
Twenty-Nine
“Told you he was a gigolo, but you didn’t want to listen, did you?” Michael’s voice grated on her nerves. How much longer would he rub salt on her wounds before he was satisfied that he’d done enough damage to make her feel even worse than she already did?
Sophia made a hand movement to cut him off. “It’s none of your business! I do as I please. I’m not accountable to anybody, least of all to you.” She had no idea how he’d found out what had happened, but here he was, wearing her floorboards thin only a day after she’d thrown Triton out of her house.
Michael stepped closer, too close for comfort. “You’re not going to frit away my inheritance, I’m warning you.”
She took a deep breath. “It’s not your inheritance, it’s mine!”
“With your tendency to get into stupid accidents, it will be mine one day.”
Sophia’s heartbeat doubled at his insinuation. Was he threatening her? Would he really go this far? Her own family? “What accidents are you talking about?”
There was a brief pause before he answered, “What, you’ve already forgotten that you fell down the stairs and hit your head?”
No, she hadn’t forgotten, nor had she forgotten the incident in the shower and the falling ceiling fan. Did Michael know about those accidents too? Or worse, did he have something to do with them? At the thought that her cousin would go this far to get what he wanted, her heartbeat stuttered. Surely, not even he could be that evil. “That’s one accident. What others are you alluding to?”
She could fairly hear the sneer in his voice when he continued, “Do you need any more?”
Was he threatening her? “Spit it out, what other accidents are you referring to?”
“What are you, paranoid? Or are you finally going crazy like your mother?”
The blow was low, and it hit her hard. Everything else was forgotten for a moment, but the fear of succumbing to mental illness. Had she really made the thing in the shower up? Had it just been her imagination that she couldn’t turn off the water and open the shower door? And if that was the case, maybe Triton had only tried to humor her when she was so panicked and stressed. Or worse, he figured he could take advantage of the situation to get her into bed. And he had. Gotten her into bed. Taken advantage of her vulnerability. And she’d let him.
“Oh, I know this look on you,” Michael’s voice stopped her thoughts. “I’ve seen it often enough when we were kids. It’s back, isn’t it? You’re seeing all those creatures again, aren’t you?”
Sophia lifted her chin in defiance. “It’s not true. And you have no right to bring this up. I was a child with an active imagination. Nothing wrong with that.” She had to fight back and put up a brave face, even if she didn’t believe it herself. No, she wasn’t seeing otherworldly creatures right now, but she obviously had started imagining things and was getting paranoid.
“Active imagination, my ass. You were loco! And you’re not any saner now. No sane person would think they could turn this place into a B&B on their own. A sane person would have asked for help.
But no, you thought you could do it all on your own. Your greed got the better of you. You just didn’t want to share, did you?”
“You’re describing yourself, Michael, not me. You’re the one, who’s greedy. You’re the one who stole and cheated. Don’t confuse me with you.” Slowly, she felt her strength return. The more outrageous his accusations, the easier it became for her to push them back and fight him. She wouldn’t allow him to turn the conversation back to her mental state.
“I told you I’ve changed. But you’re too high and mighty to give anybody a second chance. I do one thing wrong and I’ll pay for it for the rest of my life. No redemption in your eyes, isn’t that the truth?”
She realized he was grasping at straws, and it filled her with a sense of calm. Finally, she felt her strength return. Her voice was even when she replied, “One thing? You did a hundred things wrong. Don’t make it sound like this was a onetime occurrence. You’ve cheated Eleni and me your entire life. And now you expect me to just forgive you and take your word at face value?”
“You’re crazy if you think in your condition you can continue this idiotic enterprise and think you’ll succeed. You’re blind, literally and figuratively. Have you overlooked that fact?”
Sophia swallowed back her fear of the word: blind. How she hated that. But she wouldn’t allow him to get the upper hand again. “I won’t be blind forever. This is a temporary situation. I’m healing.” She hoped that she wasn’t lying. This afternoon she would know more. It was time for her follow-up appointment with Dr. Zimmerman.
“And in the meantime? Who’s going to run the renovations? Who’s making sure the contractor doesn’t cheat you? You have nobody you can trust but me.”
“Trust? I doubt you’d know the meaning of the word,” she spat. He’d gambled away any trust she’d had in him over the last years. There was nothing left. She’d given him second chances, third, and fourth, but he’d gambled those away too. Why couldn’t he admit that and leave her alone, once and for all?
“That’s a vicious thing to say. You’re turning bitchy. Couldn’t get laid, huh? Well, who’d want you anyway? Who would want to saddle himself with an invalid?”
“Get out! Get out of my house and don’t come back! I’ll be contacting the police this afternoon, and if you’re coming within five hundred yards of me or this house, I will have you arrested.”
“You’re making a big mistake, Sophia. I’m warning you.”
“I said, get out.”
She heard footsteps approaching. Apparently her heated argument was attracting the attention of the workers.
“You’ll regret this!” Michael warned in an ice-cold tone that made her blood freeze in her veins. She could fairly feel the badness in him.
“Something wrong, Miss Baker?” Greg’s voice came from the door.
Sophia swallowed away the disgust. “Would you see that this man leaves my house?”
“Not necessary,” Michael cut in. “I’m leaving. But this isn’t the end of it.”
When the front door closed behind her cousin, she dropped her shoulders. Their fights had always been ugly, but this one had been the worst by far. And it had confirmed for her what she’d always suspected: Michael was bad inside and out. And no matter how many chances she’d give him, nothing would change his course of action. He wouldn’t stop at anything to get what he wanted. Today, after her doctor’s appointment she’d go to the police and see what they could do.
“Why don’t I get Alice to make you a cup of tea? Jonathan is still out shopping for you.”
Sophia nodded. “Thanks, Greg.”
A moment later, his wife came upstairs. “What a ruckus. That boy has some anger in him. He your boyfriend?”
“My cousin.”
“Can’t choose family,” she muttered. “You want some cookies? They should be ready in a few minutes.”
Only now, Sophia noticed the smell of baked goods permeate through the house. Cookies were just what she needed now.
“What are you looking at, Greg? Don’t you have work to do?” Alice chastised her husband.
“Nothing, nothing,” he mumbled. Sophia felt him hesitate before he shuffled out of the room.
***
Sophia sat in one of the treatment rooms of Dr. Zimmerman’s practice while Jonathan waited outside in the reception area. The doctor had already examined her, done some tests, and then excused himself to consult with one of his colleagues. That had been ten minutes ago.
She folded her hands in her lap, noting how damp her palms were. With every minute that passed, her nervousness increased. What was taking him so long? Didn’t he realize that this waiting was torture for her?
After everything that had happened in the last few days, she needed some good news. Some seriously good news. Disappointment rose back up in her when she thought of Triton. He was a con-man, somebody out to cheat her. All his help, his kindness, his concern had been an act meant to reel her in slowly but surely. And she’d fallen for it. She’d believed everything. She’d actually believed that he cared for her.
But it was a lie.
What his exact plan had been, she would probably never find out, but she was convinced he’d been there to con her out of everything she owned. Like one of those marriage fraudsters she’d heard about on TV: men, who pretended to be in love with rich widows and then fleeced them for all their money. And hadn’t she been an easy target? Virtually blind, lonely, and needy. What con artist could resist?
Despite the ugly fight with Michael, one thing he’d said was true: she needed help. And while Jonathan, her new healthcare worker, was great when it came to his duties, he wouldn’t help her out with the management of the renovations. And why should he? It wasn’t his job.
Triton had spoiled her. Con artist aside, he’d truly taken care of her needs. Those three days she’d spent relaxing in the garden had helped her recharge and renew her strength. And the way he’d handled Charlie and made sure he would correct those things he’d screwed up without charging her extra, well, she wouldn’t have been able to achieve that on her own.
But it had all been calculated. He hadn’t done it because he liked her or cared for her but because he wanted something from her. It was wrong. And Sophia knew it, intellectually. Unfortunately, when she listened to her heart, it told her that Triton wasn’t all bad, that his feelings toward her weren’t faked.
When Triton had made love to her, she’d felt just that: love. A deep connection, more than passion or lust. And the way he’d held her that night after the fan had come crashing down, no man had ever held her like that. He’d been worried about something happening to her. She’d felt it.
Or was it part of the act? Had he instigated the accidents so she’d turn to him in her fear? So he could play the hero and save her? A shiver went through her body at the thought. No, she didn’t want to believe that. And besides, the plumber and the electrician hadn’t found any foul play in connection with the fan nor the shower. His friends had confirmed that. His friends? What if they had lied to cover up for him? They could have been his accomplices.
Her heart beat a rapid tattoo against her chest. No, it wasn’t good to think all these thoughts and keep dwelling on things she’d never be able to understand. She had to put a lid on the past, shut it out, forget it. She’d done so before, and she could do it again.
Sophia took a few steadying breaths, in and out, in and out. She would get through this, forget this disappointment just like she’d put other bad experiences behind her. She would be strong.
By the time the door to the exam room opened and Dr. Zimmerman stepped in, Sophia had pushed all negative thoughts out of her mind.
“Sorry it took so long,” he said and closed the door behind him.
When he cleared his throat as he moved closer, Sophia felt her chest tightening. A sense of foreboding struck her out of nowhere.
“Miss Baker, I’ve spoken to my colleague, Dr. Norbert, and we’ve both come to the same conclusion.�
� He paused. “There isn’t an easy way to say this. What I could see through the lens today is, unfortunately, rather conclusive ...”
“Dr. Zimmerman, please, just tell me how long it’s going to take for me to heal. If it takes longer than you anticipated at first, I’ll deal with it. Just give me a time frame so I can plan.” Sophia needed a firm answer. If her progress was slower than at first thought, she’d have to consider hiring somebody else to supervise the renovations.
When the doctor took her hand and squeezed it, adrenaline shot through her system. Something was wrong.
“I’m sorry, but the operation was a failure. The tissue is too fragile to allow reattachment of your retinas. It’s not taking. The edges are already fraying where we used the laser. Fluid has started collecting between the optical nerve and the retinas. It’ll only speed up the process.”
“What process?” Sophia felt her breath come in shallow pants.
“Miss Baker, the retinas are detaching again. The blotches you see right now will get bigger, and within a few weeks, the little sight you have now will be gone forever.”
Her world stood still. Nothing moved. All she could hear was the sound of her heart beating. Loud, like a drum in her ears. Every beat was like a little explosion. And every explosion numbed her more.
Forever.
The word rang in her ears.
Blind forever.
She grasped the armrest, trying to lift herself out of her chair. Her movements were automatic, robotic, a mere reflex of her body. She felt as if standing next to herself, watching how she tried to stand on shaky legs. As if it would change anything. Running away from the exam room wouldn’t change the news.
“… another operation,” the doctors voice penetrated the fog in her head, “… only a ten percent chance of succeeding …”
The room started spinning around her, then a shadow came over her.
“Miss Baker.” The doctor’s concerned voice.
